


Pancakes and Pleasure

by experimentallyjs589 (jacksparrow589)



Series: Time and Tide [8]
Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Flirting, Foreplay, Kissing, Modern Era, Post-Coital Cuddling, Romantic Fluff, Sexual Content, Shirbert, and so very into each other, fade to black for the intercourse, god they're so in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:21:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22857643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacksparrow589/pseuds/experimentallyjs589
Summary: Anne and Gilbert spend a weekend together. Love and pancakes are both made, though not quite at the same time. Feelings, however, are discussed throughout.Takes place the weekend after Clarity and Cuddling.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Series: Time and Tide [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1598953
Comments: 27
Kudos: 123





	Pancakes and Pleasure

**Author's Note:**

> So, the joking working title for this was Pancakes and Post-Coital Bliss, but I thought that was perhaps a bit _too_ on the nose. So much so that I had a note in the title: "change the latter part of this title OMG"
> 
> Here's your accidental soundtrack: "Talk" by Hozier, "Kiss and Make Up" by Dua Lipa & BLACKPINK (not that there's a breakup, I promise!), "Empire" by Shakira, "Start a Riot" by BANNERS, "Someone to Stay" by Vancouver Sleep Clinic

_**saturday morning** _

Surprisingly, it was only 8:30 in the morning, and Anne was already making breakfast. She wouldn't normally be up this early, but she'd woken up at 7:30 and showered quietly before starting in on getting food ready. She'd popped back into the bedroom to get dressed (well, back into what she'd been wearing to sleep) before kissing Gilbert on the cheek. He'd made a tired noise and started getting up.

While she'd braided her hair and started cooking, Gilbert had taken his own shower. Now, he shuffled out to the kitchen, already wearing sweats and pulling a t-shirt on. "What are you doing?"

"Making good on my promise, finally," Anne reminded him. "We didn't have time on Tuesday and it's been busy as hell since." She flipped a pancake. "What else was I supposed to do while you showered, hmm?"

"Oh, join me, maybe?" Gilbert sidled up behind Anne and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the side of her head, then her neck.

Anne laughed and wiped her cheek where Gilbert's damp hair had left trails of moisture on her skin. "Gil, I'd already showered. Besides, maneuvering that narrow tub with two of us in there is a recipe for an ER visit at best. Once there's a bigger shower, I will all too happily join you." Anne turned for a quick kiss, then turned back to making breakfast. "And anyway, I do believe you have mentioned several times that me making breakfast in your shirt and my shorts is of particular interest to you."

"Anne, _you_ are of particular interest to me," Gilbert reminded her, his lips brushing Anne's ear.

Anne sighed, unable to keep from smiling. "More than usual, I mean."

"Yes, and now I realize that you needing to focus on those pancakes is driving me up a wall," Gilbert complained.

"Well, I'm on the last two, so you'll have me all to yourself approximately..." Anne turned off the burner and flipped the pancakes onto the stack she'd made. "Now."

She turned around, pulling herself to Gilbert as he swept her into his arms and away from the stove. He leaned back against the counter gathering Anne as close as he could. Anne went up on her toes and put her hands on Gilbert's shoulders, sighing happily as they kissed. She drew back and smiled. "You are the only person who would have me up without complaint at 7:30 on Saturday morning when I don't have to do farm chores."

"I'm honored," chuckled Gilbert, "but I'd like it to be known that I in no way, shape, or form made you do anything." He gave Anne another quick peck.

"Like it to be known by whom, exactly?" Anne wanted to know. "I'm not sure I'm going to be telling anyone specifics, not even Diana." She nuzzled into Gilbert's neck and gave him another kiss. "Now, breakfast."

* * *

* * *

_**friday afternoon** _

"What did you bring?!" Gilbert held out his hand to take bag Anne held and found it rather heavier than he'd expected.

"Pancake mix!" Anne said brightly. "And buttermilk, vanilla, baking powder, and oil. And a griddle. I didn't know whether or not you had one."

"Okay..." Gilbert set about putting the ingredients where they wouldn't get in the way.

"And I assume you have eggs and sugar," Anne continued.

Gilbert nodded. "I don't live completely under a culinary rock. I just..."

Anne stopped. "Sorry, I should have asked. I just... figured I'd be staying over..." Her face fell slightly.

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "No! You are; you definitely are. If that's what you want. I mean, I don't want to presume, but I'd like... Anyway, I just... I guess I kind of thought you'd be joking about the pancakes. I don't know why." He rubbed the back of his head. "You just... caught me a little off-guard is all."

"Sounds like you just weren't thinking as far forward as breakfast," Anne joked. When Gilbert didn't laugh, she looked up at him, a nervous smile curling her lips and a light flush across her cheeks. "It's okay, you know," she said gently. "You know just as well as I do that newly realized love is intoxicating like this. Not like I came over thinking that we were going to sit on opposite ends of the couch and barely hold hands while we take 'Netflix and chill' far more literally than we have any right to."

Gilbert took her hand and drew her into a hug. "And if that is all I actually want to do?" He murmured into her hair.

Anne turned her head and pressed several long kisses to where Gilbert's neck met his shoulder. "I'm not going to object to quietly being in each other's presence at least some of the time," she told him, "But as we know that's not actually _all_ either of us wants today, let's start there and see where it goes, hmm?"

* * *

* * *

_**saturday morning** _

"Okay, what did you do? These aren't the pancakes Mary makes; they are—and do _not_ ever tell her I said this—much better. They're... fluffy?" Gilbert had wolfed down one pancake and had two more on his plate, which he was savoring on realizing that there was something different about them.

"I separate the eggs and make a meringue out of the egg whites that I fold in after all the other ingredients get mixed," Anne explained.

Gilbert nodded. "Like a souffle, then, or a sponge cake?"

Anne nodded. "Exactly. Points for actually paying attention to Great British Bake Off, my love."

Gilbert shrugged, though his lips twitched to smile at the endearment. "That show is ridiculously soothing. Perfect for both actually watching while cuddling and background noise for making out."

Anne laughed. "That's fair." She ate a few bites of pancake, smiling faintly at the new memories of them watching, Gilbert asking questions that Anne answered, or both of them marveling at the showstoppers. Gilbert had started playing idly with Anne's hand, tracing soothing nonsense patterns on her palm. It had been incredibly peaceful, and it had given her a glimpse into what their everyday future could be.

She was only vaguely aware that Gilbert was watching her in turn, and was having similar thoughts. Some of it was awe that he had the chance, as this was still so new in some ways. But in so many others, it wasn't, and that more than anything was making the future reassuringly clear.

He blinked, as though he were a camera. This was a moment he wanted to remember Anne in: hair still damp and a little frizzy, smiling sleepily but hopefully.

"So, what do you say to finishing the season of Bake Off?" he offered.

"If I can bring my coffee into the bedroom," Anne replied, "then you've got yourself a deal."

* * *

* * *

_**friday evening** _

"Oh no!" Anne's eyes went wide as Cathryn's dough slammed into the carpet. "How do you recover from something like that?"

 _Throw it away and start over,_ Gilbert wanted to say, but it was clear that Anne was asking rhetorically, and that exact scenario played out seconds later. "I'm just more impressed that that works," he admitted. "There are a couple students taking the chemistry class I'm TA-ing who also enjoy baking. I think they're looking to go into food science. The stories they come in with about their sourdough starters going moldy in ways they definitely shouldn't or dough overflowing the bowl—there was one whose cat crawled into the bowl full of dough he was rising because it was in the sun."

Anne laughed. "I would say that's a classic mistake, but that's the first time I've heard that one!"

Gilbert cracked a grin. "Yeah, whenever he offers bread in class now, people always ask if it has catnip in it. Or hair."

"I don't know if that's better or worse than carpet," Anne mused, her attention returning to the show. She was looking over at Gilbert much more frequently now, though.

"Am I really that much of a distraction?" he asked after the tenth time.

Anne sighed and admitted, "Yes… You're just so…" she sighed again and leaned in for a kiss.

After obliging, Gilbert pulled back. "I'm just so…?" he lifted Anne's hand to his lips.

"Yes, and quite—" Anne leaned back in to kiss his neck where it met his shoulder.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Well, in that case, you, Anne, are very much—" he turned and put a hand under Anne's chin to tilt her face up to his, closing the distance between them slowly. The ensuing kiss was soft but passionate.

Anne drew back just far enough to rest her forehead against Gilbert's, not bothering to open her eyes. "And you, Gilbert, are so, so maddeningly—" she stretched up to kiss him, meaning business. After a brief nibble, she ran her tongue along Gilbert's bottom lip, leaving him with no question as to what she was looking for.

Not, of course, that he was complaining. He let Anne in, allowing her tongue to explore his mouth, and asking and receiving permission to explore hers in turn. His hands slid up and down her back, threading in and out of her hair, while hers ran across his neck and chest. After a moment, Gilbert moved from Anne's mouth to her neck. One of his hands cradled the back of her neck and head, the other wound up her back under her sweater.

In the background, the strudels continued causing havoc, but Anne and Gilbert were no longer aware.

* * *

* * *

_**saturday late morning** _

Anne sipped at her the last of her coffee, frowning when she realized it was the last. She rose to get another cup, telling Gilbert when he stopped the show and asked if everything was alright. She offered to get him another cup, and he smiled gratefully, requesting water instead.

When Anne returned with both of their beverages, she settled in and leaned her head against Gilbert's shoulder while his free hand rested on her leg. This felt so right, so natural. It was as though it had been this way for years, though they'd never allowed themselves to intentionally get quite so close in casual context until the last week.

They were trying to speak less about all the time that they'd been missing out on, instead choosing to focus on all the time they had in front of them: the moments of great passion and love and celebration, but also the small, everyday moments like this.

Neither of them had mentioned marriage, but "You are the only one I intend to be with from here on out" had certainly been agreed upon, and not in the usual "We'll take every day as it comes" manner (though they certainly would), but in a way that left no room for any other option, only because they knew they could make it last. However, for as much as they defied convention, coming back for Easter not only newly together but engaged just didn't seem right. Now that they were together, they had time, and they were going to take it, savoring each other and whatever the days brought in the process.

* * *

* * *

_**friday night** _

Gilbert's laptop had been abandoned entirely. He'd barely remembered to shut it down as his gaze followed Anne finger combing her hair out on the way to the bedroom. He'd surprised her by catching up to her and spinning her around for another long kiss.

Anne had taken one of his hands in hers while the other went from caressing his cheek to playing with the curls at the back of his neck in an encouraging way.

She knew her signal was understood nearly immediately. Gilbert was kissing her breathlessly, and Anne found herself barely remembering to draw breath. She tugged on his hand, stumbling backward a bit when Gilbert didn't move at first, but she pulled back far enough to rasp, "I am trying to get us to your bed, Gil; _work with me._ "

"Very well." Gilbert picked her up in a mostly fluid motion.

"Gilbert Blythe, I am fully capable of walking ten feet!" Anne laughed, wrapping her legs around him.

"This has nothing to do with your capability," Gilbert assured her. "It has everything to do with tossing you onto the bed and then falling on top of you being a hell of a lot more fun."

"Ah." Anne gave him a light peck. "Well then, by all means, carry on." She tilted her head and smiled before nuzzling Gilbert's neck as he took the last few steps toward the bed.

Anne could hardly contain her excited grin when she felt him bend his knees to half-kneel on the bed before depositing her more or less gently on the bed. For all that being tossed sounded fun, the noise complaint wouldn't be. She scooted back just a bit, waiting for Gilbert to lower his mouth to hers.

She didn't have to wait long, though she was a bit perplexed when when the kisses were lighter and softer than expected. Anne scooted back closer, deepening the kiss and covering Gilbert's hands where he braced himself against the bed with her own. She nipped at his lip and pulled back a bit. _Come on, follow my lead,_ she was about to say when she found herself rather suddenly being laid back as Gilbert let himself down onto the bed just slowly enough to give her time to control her descent.

Gilbert hovered for a fraction of a second, then his mouth crashed greedily down onto Anne's, his chest flush against hers, and both his hands went straight her hair. Anne arched against him, hands sliding down his sides to the hem of his shirt. Gilbert allowed her to pull his shirt up slowly while her hands roved his back, finally removing the shirt entirely when he pulled away for breath. Anne levered herself up on her elbows and pushed herself up the bed so her head rested on a pillow, watching Gilbert appreciatively as he pulled her top up enough to place a kiss just above the waistband of her jeans before deftly undoing the fly and removing them. After depositing the article of clothing on the floor, he crawled up to join Anne, tugging one of her legs to hook around his. Anne made a short noise and moved her hand to his jeans, trying to work the button loose with one hand and smirking when she succeeded and tugged the zipper down.

Her triumphant laugh was short lived, rapidly giving way to a needy moan when Gilbert's hand cupped her breast while his hips ground against hers. "Hang on; just let me..." She wriggled a hand up behind her to undo her bra, then pulled both it and her sweater off. "Much better."

"I'd drink to that, but more pressing matters..." Gilbert dropped a kiss at the hollow of Anne's throat, then worked his way back up her neck to her lips as his hand slid down the now bare skin of her side.

Just as his hand hit the top of her underwear, Anne grabbed it. "Before you ask: yes, everything is—well, fine isn't a strong enough word, but the point is that I don't want you to stop; I just... want to do this together."

Gilbert gave her a look that sent the most wonderful shivers down her spine before kicking off his jeans and underwear while Anne removed hers. When they rolled back to face each other, Gilbert took Anne's hand and kissed her fingertips. "I believe your phrasing earlier was _by all means_?" He teased before softly kissing Anne, letting his hand wander down her body again while her hand glided down his.

Anne let out a soft, satisfied whimper into Gilbert's mouth as she felt a finger slide up inside her. She gently gripped Gilbert's shaft and started to move her hand in time with his. The effect was what she'd hoped: Gilbert made a noise in his throat that Anne had quickly come to know meant he was very much enjoying what she was doing.

After a couple moments, when they were breathing hard and Anne was reeling from the orgasm that had left tears starting at the corners of her eyes, Gilbert turned to his bedside table and grabbed a condom, idly flipping it between his fingers. "Ready when you are."

Anne gave him a look. "Oh please, do _not_ make me wait."

"Well, only for a moment." Gilbert gave her another long kiss as he rolled the condom on. "But I intend to make it very, _very_ worth your while."

Anne gave him a sweet smile. "The feeling is entirely mutual."

* * *

"Hey." Gilbert kissed Anne's forehead.

Anne nuzzled into his neck in return. "Hey, yourself," she murmured, trailing a short line of light kisses from Gilbert's shoulder up to just below his ear. She propped herself up to look him in the eye. "You... make me really happy, you know that?"

"I've gathered something to that effect, yes," Gilbert teased as he ran a hand up and down Anne's back. "Believe me when I tell you that I am equally glad to have you."

"You've pretty thoroughly convinced me," Anne confirmed. "I mean, sex aside... Well, not aside, since... Ugh..." She flopped back down, resting her head against Gilbert's shoulder. "It's hard to get the right words after that."

Gilbert smirked. "High praise if ever I've heard it. I have rendered the notoriously wordy Anne Shirley-Cuthbert speechless!"

"But you'd never besmirch either of our names by stating exactly how," Anne pointed out.

Gilbert scoffed. "No, but I'd do _this_ again in a heartbeat, or at least sometime tomorrow morning. And anyway—" He folded Anne into his arms and rolled onto his back so she rested on top of him. "—it's nice to have a secret or two of our own. And I know I can sufficiently rile you on my own. All I have to do—"

"Don't you _dare_..." Anne gasped.

"—is remind you of the time you turned in an article with the byline saying your name was spelled A-N-N and your editor caught it."

Anne let out a muffled cry as she buried her face against Gilbert's chest. "I was sleep-deprived, and the stupid newspaper room computers had just been replaced so I hadn't had time to get my name in the spell check!" she wailed.

Gilbert laughed. "Well, I will always be here to point out your sleep-deprived spelling mistakes—hey!" He twitched as Anne poked him in the side.

"Well, well. Seems I've found an effective way to shut you up." Anne smirked triumphantly.

"You have about a hundred different ways to shut me up just by existing, Anne," Gilbert told her with the sincerity one would use to relay a fundamental truth of the universe.

Anne suddenly went quiet and very serious. She found herself looking away out of habit, but she forced herself to meet Gilbert's eyes. She took a couple deep, even breaths. "I tried to ignore that for the longest time, you know," she said quietly. "It's not that it's not nice, but it's like, when are you going to figure out that I'm not perfect? Took me a long time to realize that you knew that. Took me even longer to realize that I knew the same thing about you. And way, _way_ too long to realize that none of it really mattered. Hoping for acceptance… it's hard. Actually trusting that I have that acceptance? That's… being with you without reservation is the scariest thing I have ever done. And the most wonderful." She let out a deep breath. "Thank you."

"Found your words, I see." Gilbert's voice was low and thick with emotion. He tightened his grip on Anne, and she in turn held one of his arms, and caressed his cheek with her other hand. Gilbert tucked his head down to press a kiss to Anne's forehead. "I intend to ensure your trust in me never seems misplaced. I'm sure I'll say it until you're sick of hearing it, but I have you, and I am not letting you go."

Anne wriggled up to rest her forehead against Gilbert's. "Not that I'll ever get sick of it, but that goes double for me," she whispered shakily. With a sniffle, she looked up. "That said, I am tired and would like to get to sleep, so you will have to bear me being at least a step or two away from you." She rolled off Gilbert and started looking for her sweater on the floor so she could at least be warm while she located her pajamas.

Gilbert heaved a melodramatic sigh. "I think I can bear that on one condition…" he rummaged in his bureau and tossed a shirt to Anne. "You consider making pancakes in this tomorrow morning so that if me hugging you gets in the way, it's like I'm still hugging you."

Anne gave him a warm look. "You are unspeakably adorable." She exchanged her sweater for the shirt. "Ah, this one… It's so soft!" She wrapped her arms around herself for a moment and bowed her head, breathing in the scent of Gilbert and clean laundry.

"Unspeakably adorable seems to be catching tonight." Gilbert's gaze before he turned back to selecting his own nightwear was equally loving as Anne's had been.

They exchanged smiles as they continued to get ready for sleep, prolonging the process so that it was nearly midnight by the time they were under the covers and falling asleep in each other's arms, but it was an experience they wouldn't trade for anything else.

* * *

* * *

_**saturday early afternoon** _

Netflix had moved on to another show. They'd realized this only when the laptop had started playing spooky music to go along with the docuseries about castles that had started playing afterward, momentarily derailing the mood.

It had started with Anne, propped against the wall with her legs diagonally across Gilbert's lap and some arm around his waist half-consciously toying with the hem of Gilbert's shirt. Gilbert's hand had been resting on Anne's exposed thigh, but she'd shifted a bit to stay comfortable, he'd started a bit, pulling his hand up Anne's leg. Anne had, in turn, sucked in a short breath.

They'd both kept up the pretense of watching for a little longer, while Gilbert brushed the back of his hand back and forth along the inside of Anne's thigh and one of Anne's fingers now slid under his shirt along the crevice between Gilbert's waistband and his skin.

Ten minutes later, Anne couldn't bear it any longer. She pushed herself away from the wall and brought her legs under her. Gilbert had already turned to look at her and was bringing a hand to cup her cheek when she leaned up to kiss him. She brought a leg over his so that she straddled his lap, eagerly moving her hips against his. One of Gilbert's arms was wrapped around her shoulders, and his other was low on her back, hand unapologetically down the back of her shorts to hold her as close as he possibly could. It was then that the castle docuseries began playing, much to the chagrin of both of them.

Anne grabbed the back of his shirt as she had the other night and started pulling it off, only for Gilbert to grab the shirt she wore and start tugging it up, too.

After a brief, laughter-inducing tussle to get both shirts off, Gilbert slid to lie down, staying under Anne only just until she let her weight rest on him before he switched their positions. Anne's breathless laugh turned into a soft sigh as Gilbert's lips worked down her neck and onto her chest, one of his hands laced with hers, the back of the other running along her side. Anne let out series of moans and sighs as Gilbert's mouth and hand paid almost reverent attention to her breasts.

"Gil..." Anne ran a hand down the center of his chest and stomach as she wriggled further under him. Her hand tugged at the waistband of his pants and underwear, pulling them just far enough to return the pleasure she was feeling in some way.

"Anne..." Gilbert trailed kisses back up to her mouth. "I know that you are more than willing to return the favor, and I appreciate it, believe me, but please, for now, just let me. I promise you, you'll get your turn."

Anne nodded slowly and closed her eyes, relaxing as much as she could, though the anticipation still had her a little tense. The seconds it took Gilbert's hands and mouth to wind lower and lower were agonizingly long, but then, the remainder of her clothing was pulled off and Gilbert was on his hands and knees between her legs—

Anne gasped. Her hands grasped the quilt so tightly in ecstasy that her knuckles were white. This wasn't the first time for them, but the first (and second) had been so hazy with years of pent-up desire that Anne hadn't remembered just how overwhelming the sensations were. She couldn't really say much of what exactly Gilbert's mouth and hands were doing; all she knew was that it felt like nothing she'd experienced before him, and it was beyond amazing.

Her brain hardly registered as Gilbert moved back up to wrap his arms around her for a moment. Anne turned to look into his eyes, trying desperately to come up with the words. Gilbert seemed to understand what she meant, and gave her a soft, slow kiss.

Anne waited for her heart to slow down a little, then, hoping her braid was going to stay in, she started her own exploration of Gilbert's features with her lips and tongue and hands.

She realized somewhere along the way that Gilbert was having an equally hard time letting her take her time as she'd had with him. The thought made her smile for a brief moment before she did something else with her mouth that caused Gilbert to take a sharp breath and let it out in a helpless moan that nearly stopped Anne when she heard the desire behind it. None of this was merely sex scratching any kind of itch, as Diana had so crudely eliminated as a possibility a week ago. This was just pure, unadulterated want and need and love and lust, and while she'd quickly learned to appreciate it, Anne had never loved the vulnerability of it until they'd talked about it the other night.

"Anne." Gilbert breathed her name like she was the only thing he believed in. He put a slightly shaking hand on her cheek, guiding her back to meet his eyes and lie next to him for a few moments. With an entirely lascivious smile (which Anne matched with one of her own), he rolled over to reach his bedside table, ready to once again ensure both exhaustion and contentment before much longer.

* * *

"Why did I even bother showering this morning?" Anne mumbled against Gilbert's neck. His arm was around her shoulders, and he rubbed his thumb across the top of her shoulder.

"Same reason I did: you needed it. The smell of sex does not improve with time."

Anne rolled her eyes. "So romantic, Gil." She wrinkled her nose just a little as she added, "You're not wrong, though."

Gilbert laughed. "Sorry. How about this: showers are both refreshing and, when thought about properly, very sensual." He dragged a hand through Anne's hair.

"Mmmm…" Anne sighed and relaxed just a little more before realizing… "Where's my hair tie?" Gilbert held up his wrist. Anne stared. "When did you…?"

"When you finally got frustrated with it."

Anne had a vague recollection of starting to be annoyed with the tie and Gilbert bringing her back around and telling her not to worry about it. "...Am I going to get it back?" she asked, half playful, half genuinely curious.

Gilbert's expression at the moment was the dictionary definition of ravenous. "When I'm done appreciating your hair."

Anne sucked in a breath, contemplating her response. "Given several things you have said to me in the past twenty-four hours, I'm taking that as a 'never'."

"Okay, rephrase: after I am done appreciating the glorious bedhead I know you're going to have."

"You'd know," Anne teased. "I think your bedhead is more legendary than mine."

"Bash has been talking, I see," Gilbert grumbled.

Anne scoffed. "You say that like I haven't seen this myself over the years. Not to mention your hat hair in the winter," she added slyly.

Gilbert sighed. "I offer a compliment, and I get made fun of."

"Hmm, well…" Anne put a hand on his cheek to get him to face her. "Your eyes are just… captivating. All you have to do is look at me. Not even in any special way. They're always catching the light in different ways… That day we got caught in the thunderstorm, I think I stopped breathing for a second when we stood in the hallway and that weird post-storm light made them just… I don't know. But believe me when I say you have caught me staring as much as I've caught you, last night notwithstanding."

Gilbert shuffled through memories in his head. He supposed he had, now that Anne brought it up. "Well, I'll just have to stay on the lookout from here on out, and give you reasons to get lost in them now."

Anne's smile in response was jubilant, and still just a bit teasingly flirtatious. "I suppose I could get used to that." She nuzzled her way back into his neck. "I love you, Gil."

"And I love you, Anne." Gilbert rested his cheek against her head, perfectly content.

The specific memories of the weekend would fade with time, but the warmth and love and passion would never be forgotten, and would grow only more all-encompassing with time. They didn't know that now, and they didn't have to; being in the moment was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> …I know, I know. I _know_ , okay?! I said I wouldn't write sex again. Probably. And to be fair, this is less explicit in the intercourse department… but also definitely has a double dose of foreplay along with a generous amount of fluff, a healthy portion of making out, and romance by the frigging bucketful.
> 
> Also, safe sex. Like, holy cow. I debated getting rid of the condom bit because it seemed to throw off the flow, and then I was like "nah, safe sex is sexy sex!" So there it stayed.
> 
> But yeah, this fic was not supposed to happen. But it did. God help me.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments are welcome and encouraged, as usual.


End file.
